My sophomore year of high school? All Banana cream pie, all the time. (Don’t even get me started on the BCP club my friends and I had.)

Junior year of college was riddled with bags of salt & vinegar chips (I can still feel the tongue burns…)

And I can remember the first winter after college when I made a batch of sweet & spicy chili every Sunday, then ate the leftovers for lunch all week afterwards. This went on for MONTHS. (I couldn’t make that recipe again for years after I came to my senses!)

These days? Well, I’m simply stuck on quinoa. Simply struck, is more like it!

Quinoa is as filling as it is versatile, and lately I’ve been having fun putting it in everything from salads, to mini breakfast bites, to mac & cheese – and now soup. Er, rather – stew. Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash & Quinoa, to be exact!

Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash & Quinoa is one of the most unique dishes to ever come out of my kitchen. Sweet butternut squash is paired with salty kalamata olives, shredded chicken, and fluffy quinoa, all swirled in a savory chicken broth. It is hearty, full-flavored and so satisfying.

It is a perfect cold-weather dish too, and makes plenty for leftovers. Start the stew by peeling, seeding and chopping a butternut squash.

I used a vegetable peeler to get the outer peel off, then a big, sharp knife to cut the top, straight half off the bottom bulbous (bulbous?) half.

Chop the squash into 1/2″ pieces then place it in a microwave safe bowl with a splash of water. Put a lid on top then microwave for 5-6 minutes or until the squash is just barely tender. Remove half, set it aside, and continue microwaving the other half until it’s very soft, about 3-4 additional minutes.

Drain, then mash the squash that was microwaved the longest with a fork or potato masher.

Squash = done! Set these puppies aside for the moment.

Next, place two frozen or thawed chicken breasts in a large soup pot or Dutch oven on the stove over high heat.

Add in rich chicken broth to cover, then bring it to a boil and place a lid on top.

Let the chicken breasts poach in the broth for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked all the way through. Remove the chicken to a plate and shred when it’s cool. Pour the broth into a separate bowl and set aside.

Return the pot to the stove and add in olive oil and minced onion. Saute the onion until it’s soft, then add in fragrant garlic and earthy dried oregano, and cook for another minute.

Next add in a can of petite diced tomatoes (I’m a freak about chunks, so I zipped mine through my mini food processor first) as well as the cubed and mashed butternut squash.

Pour the reserved chicken broth back in, plus rinsed uncooked quinoa, and let the whole thing simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the quinoa is cooked and puffed.

Directions

Place the butternut squash and a splash of water in a large bowl with a lid in the microwave, and cook until barely tender, about 6-7 minutes. Remove half of the squash and set it aside. Cook the remaining squash an additional 3-4 minutes or until it is very tender. Drain, then mash this squash with the back of a fork and also set aside.

Add the chicken broth and chicken breasts to a large soup pot on the stove, and bring to a boil. Place a lid on top, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way through. Remove chicken to a plate to cool, and pour chicken broth into a separate bowl.

Return the pot to the stove over medium-low heat, and add in the olive oil. Add onion, salt, and pepper and saute until the onion is soft and brown, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and oregano. Cook, stirring constantly, for another minute.

Add tomatoes and all the butternut squash to the pot. Stir to combine. Pour in reserved chicken broth and quinoa, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil then place a lid on top, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa is tender and cooked.

Meanwhile, shred the chicken. When quinoa is cooked, stir in chicken, olives and parsley. Cook until chicken is hot, season with additional salt & pepper if necessary, then ladle into bowls.

Notes

If making ahead of time, you'll need extra chicken broth when re-heating as the quinoa soaks up some of the broth as it cools.

Comments

Nebraska girl here .. this looks WONDERFUL! I’m going to make it sometime this week. Love Quinoa! I “pop” it and add it to the top of my homemade dark chocolate cranberry bark. How good is THAT for you :-)

The One Pot Kale and Quinoa Pilaf that Lissa posted is one of our family’s favorites. Lots of bright flavor. I too am looking for more Quinoa recipes and can’t wait to try this one (I’ll try your suggestion of ham instead of olives).

I love quinoa too! I think I made this same dish a couple weeks ago minus the olives since I am not a fan of them. I usually cook a batch of quinoa on the weekend to use as a side or in soups/salads, o for breakfast with Greek yogurt during the week.

I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Since developing this recipe, I’ve made it at least once every 2 weeks. My husband adores it and would eat it every day for lunch if he could. We are smitten by quinoa too!

I put the quinoa in a colendar, and as I run water over it I rub the quinoa with my fingers until the water runs clear. The quinoa has a bitter coating (a plant has to have something to protect it!) that needs to be removed before eating.

I’m on a quinoa kick as well! Everything and anything I can cook with quinoa I am ON IT. Made your delicious mini ham & cheese quiona cups last night. The family LOVED them! I’d love to see you post some more quiona recipes. Thank you for sharing! XO

I made your mom’s macaroni and cheese tonight and it was a big success at our house. I used the panko & parsley ingredients from another mac & cheese recipe on your blog and put it on top of half of it. This was a compromise for my kids :0) Very yummy!

a) that pinterest wrapper is so true!!!!! you try to bite it nicely and end up totally covered in those damn crumbs! b) i cannot get on the quinoa bandwagon! i just don’t like the taste…! i did make a fantastic breakfast quinoa porridge recently (to replicate this awesome one from a diner in philly), and so far so good. here’s the link if you’d like to try it :) http://thesundayflog.com/2012/02/13/from-the-kitchen-quinoa-breakfast-porridge/

Quinoa is a great food to be stuck on! I am stuck on the Biscoff spread. I just ran out of a jar and it pained me to resist getting a new one last night at the store! Also, I’ve been on a greek yogurt kick for oh…4 years. Don’t think that one is going away!

I’ve been obsessed with cooking with barley recently! First I made your vegetable beef and barley soup last week (awesome btw), and now this week I’m gonna make your Beef and Barley Stew. I’m looking forward to some more barley recipes! :)

I bought that Costco bag too. Never had it before and am having a hard time liking it. I tried your mini bites and those were a miss, I just don’t care for the taste that results from egg and cheese mixing. I tried it in a salad. No go. Maybe a stew would be the ticket. I need to find a way I like it since I bought the big bag.

I’m really hooked on any whole grains lately, but since I too need to get through the ’78lb’ bag of quinoa from Costco, it’s been a lot of that. I’ve been making a great Asian flavored quinoa salad someone brought to the Super bowl party we went to. It’s cooked red quinoa, broccoli, asparagus, green onions, sesame oil, soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes. YUM!!!

I love your blog and recipes and know that using fresh ingredients is the way to go, but for us who are single and don’t like to spend time in the kitchen cooking for just one, maybe you could do substitutions (like frozen squash, already cooked chicken, etc.)?

for the butternut squash, next time you can just slice it in half, de-seed, and throw in the oven for 30-45 minutes….then scoop out with a spoon. Then you’d get the yummy roasted flavor AND not have to peel the dang thing! The only reason to peel & cube is if you’re leaving the cubes whole.

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My name's Kristin and I'm an Iowa Girl! I eat as well as my sweet tooth allows, run as often as possible despite the crazy Iowa weather, and am usually dreaming about the next place I want to travel to! Read more...